Sydney: happy 94 to the Harbour Bridge (2026)
March 19 marks the anniversary of the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, one of the key landmarks in Sydney, Australia.
Known informally as “The Coathanger”, the steel through-type arch bridge opened on 19 March 1932, joining the harbour’s northern “Kiarabilli” (Milsons Point) with southern “Tarra” (Dawes Point) to vehicular traffic for the first time. The project took eight years to complete the 1.2-kilometre span over the Parramatta River as its waters empty into Sydney Harbour.
It’s easy to forget Sydney is a city of bridges, as Elizabeth Farrelly wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald on 3 January 2013:
Sydney: five bells, one harbour, seven bridges. A bridge is the ultimate romantic symbol, crystallising in steel and concrete the yearning to connect disparate worlds – and Sydney, city of baroque waterways, is as fully (if not as glamorously) bridged as London, Stockholm or Prague.
It’s big, it’s functional, even as some call it “old and ugly.” Today, the bridge provides an important link between the city’s northern suburbs and the Central Business District.
The smooth shiny metallic curves of the Harbour Bridge and the sail-like spherical-shells on the roof of the nearby Opera House form a visually powerful combination which has not only helped to define Sydney but Australia as well on the world stage.
I cannot disentangle memories of Sydney or Australia without thinking about The Bridge. I know when I finally see the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House, I know I’ve arrived and I’m back in Sydney.
Sunrise from Mrs. Macquarie’s Point
Under the central arch
Northbound, through the south pylons
“THIS … is Sydney!”
Down to the right, up to the left
Swarming ships on a summer Saturday, at Circular Quay
Parramatta River, towards Birchgrove
Parramatta River, near Cockatoo Island
Moonset in front and sunrise behind, from Dover Heights
Morning light on the City skyline, from Dover Heights
West view from Gap Park, Watsons Bay
Setting sun, from Dover Heights
VIVID Sydney 2013
Full moon over Harbour Bridge, VIVID Sydney 2013, from Blues Point Reserve
I made all of the photos above between 2007 and 2013. I acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the traditional custodians of the land called Australia, and the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation as traditional custodians of the place called Sydney. References to Aboriginal placenames: ANU, Australian Museum, Creative Spirits, and Pocket Oz. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins.com as http://wp.me/p1BIdT-38e.
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